5. Opportunities and Challenges for the Sustainability of the
WSA

In this part of the Report, we focus upon the opportunities that
are available to prospective
WSA adopters;
drawing on information concerning how practitioners have grasped
the opportunities presented by the
WSA way of
working, and overcome some of the challenges outlined in the
previous section. Discussion here is aimed at addressing Objective
2 (establishing what is working well and less well towards
self-sustainability in the case study areas, and why); and
Objective 6 (to establish the lessons learnt for informed
sustainability of the
WSA and to share
these more widely). In particular, the effect of partner
co-location and the development of dedicated
WSA roles are
discussed as mechanisms through which to promote
WSA efficacy. This
section concludes with a discussion of how these factors help
sustain
WSA practices as
well as their capacity to facilitate possible expansion in the
scope of
WSA.

5.1 Sustaining the
WSA
ethos

Throughout the evaluation, practitioners highlighted the value
of multi-agency working and information sharing, and the ways in
which this promotes better outcomes for young people. The
WSA 'brand' is
considered to be important, as one practitioner put it, "a useful
umbrella term", and a way of maintaining "buy-in", keeping
different social work teams and partners on board with the core
WSA values, which
relate closely to the
GIRFEC
values. However it was also evident that agency "buy-in" to
WSA policy and
practice cannot be assumed, nor is the
WSA the only
approach to youth offending in Scotland.

Practitioners also highlighted the importance of public
perceptions and public buy-in to the
WSA. For example,
practitioners from a range of agencies commented on how the
WSA more broadly
might be perceived as a 'soft option' by the public. Good
communication was seen as crucial in this respect, for example, by
explaining to communities or individuals affected by youth
offending that action was being taken. Again, on-going work will be
required to shore-up and sustain public support for the
WSA approach.

Whilst the
WSA focus on
linked up working partnership was commended by partners across each
authority, to some extent, public credibility and community
understanding remained an issue. Ongoing work will be required to
promote and sustain
WSA values across
and within partner agencies, particularly if there are future
changes to working arrangements, for example, if
WSA resources and
responsibilities are allocated to different agencies or
partners.

5.2 Shared Learning

It is clear that the adoption of the
WSA approach in
each case study area has provided an excellent opportunity for
shared learning, which in turn has facilitated better understanding
of the role, remits, and responsibilities of the multiple partners
involved in the delivery of the
WSA. Importantly,
the
WSA promotes
face-to-face working, which is seen as key to the smooth operation
of the process. Face-to-face work also enables
WSA values to be
communicated more successfully, better facilitating cultural
change:

"We did an amazing amount of face-to-face briefings with
officers. [Emails and briefings] didn't cut it for such a big
cultural change… We would talk to probationers, any new
probationer classes coming in… We had to capture a lot of
cops who were used to certain processes [with] certain attitudes
towards young people who offended." (Police officer)

According to some practitioners, the
WSA enables
partners to 'work smarter', drawing on the resources and skills of
other agencies: this is directly linked to meeting partners
face-to-face. Describing how such partnership working accelerates
shared learning, one practitioner comments how the
WSA:

"Opens your eyes to what's there... You get into the situation
where you start to understand why people are there, what their role
is and what their job does, where it fits into the system and you
know if you need to speak with them again, you can do it."

That said, access to resources and services is uneven between
local authorities. For example, there is limited third sector
presence in Authority C. In order to address these inconsistencies,
there may be value in considering the options for sharing services
across different areas.

5.3 Resources and Funding

The
WSA is resource
heavy, specifically in terms of sustaining ongoing (often
face-to-face) communication between a wide range of partners, the
need for ongoing training, and the management of large amounts of
information. Most (but not all) practitioners expressed concern in
relation to funding and the availablity of resources, both
currently and in the future. These concerns were exacerbated by the
varying demands placed on authorities (the flow of police charges),
and the multi-agency nature of the
WSA, which meant
that financial pressure experienced by one partner could have a
knock-on effect on others. There was particular concern that, in an
era of increasing austerity, the fall in crime and a reduction in
the number of referrals for young people might weaken the position
of the
WSA within local
authorities.

Having relied on minimal additional funds to establish and embed
WSA into their
youth justice practices, Authority A appeared to be the most
resilient to budgetary pressures, to the extent that they had
adapted their services and widened their client pool by extending
the
WSA to target a
broadet range of age-groups (up to age 21). This authority also
benefitted from relatively low case numbers, and a strong third
sector presence. However, practitioners in Authority A were just as
concerned as others about sustainability:

"Money is tight everywhere across the Council and social work is
such a huge section of that. They want to make savings everywhere
and if you don't really understand why we're doing what we're doing
then it makes it easier to cut"

Increased information-sharing about working with young people,
and better promotion/education of the advantages of the
WSA to partner
organisations and, perhaps more pertinently, Councils, is one
potential method to achieve sustainability.

In Authority B, practitioners felt that even with established
systems in place, the current pressure on resources posed a real
threat to the future of the
WSA. In
particular, financial pressure placed on Education was viewed as a
threat to the effective functioning of the
WSA, potentially
affecting the services available, and the capacity for
information-sharing; for example, the resources to review cases and
attend
PRS meetings.

The impact of funding arrangements were most acutely felt in
Authority C. For a 15 month period, a dedicated
WSA team, funded
by the Scottish Government, was on duty every day. Following the
cessation of seed funding, three generic social work teams took on
the
WSA remit.
However, it was felt that the loss of specialist resources had
resulted in a loss of control in relation to case management, and a
less consistent approach to dealing with youth offending, where
cases were dispersed amongst generic social work area teams.

"You can see the ones that don't get such good service…
because they get taken off supervision quicker than they should,
and then they're in the justice system and they're much more
vulnerable. I would say that's been the biggest threat; the
service's loss of the social worker." (Social Worker)

A senior manager commented on how the local authority adapted to
the loss of their dedicated
WSA team,
reiterating the importance of the presence of motivated and
'championing' personnel:

"We realised that losing the qualified worker within the team
there was going to be a difference, but we had the commitment from
the local authority to actually say we will still get that bit in
terms of a social worker who is carrying the case will still be
able to fulfil some of the roles: realistically it's no happening
that way, and again a lot of that's to do with a social worker who
doesn't particularly have the departed qualified social worker's
level of motivation, isn't going to provide the same response as
him… We are recognizing that, other senior social workers
are recognising that, and there have been discussion about how we
are moving forward with our Family and Youth services review and
looking at whether we create qualified posts within these teams to
actually undertake that particular piece of work, because it did
make a difference".

Below, a practitioner in Authority C comments on the decision to
invest in a dedicated team, rather than processes. The comments
highlight the precariousness of
WSA funding, and
also describe how a dedicated team could benefit the local
authority:

"The funding for [the] team was completely from the Scottish
Government, and I think Authority C… were hoping that by the
end of the funding they'd have enough money to keep us all on. So,
that was the aspiration at the time. And I think just because of
the climate, they weren't able to release as much funding from
other places as they hoped they were going to be able to. So if [we
were] to get some social workers back, that's going to have to be
social workers lost from the area team. But the shadowing point is,
look: give us a couple of social workers and [we'll] take the most
difficult cases, the ones that you don't want to deal with, or your
team aren't very good at dealing with".

5.4 Championing

The term 'champion' can be applied to each of the
WSA leads in
Authorities A, B and C, in that they have played a critical role in
establishing
WSA principles in
each of their distinctive contexts and advocating its use. However,
the championing of
WSA approach and
processes is not restricted to the
WSA leads; it is
also evident in the vocational nature of the engagement displayed
by
WSA dedicated
social workers. Acting as a personal champion promotes what one
social work manager described as "seamlessness" continuity in
regard to the service provided. In practice, this meant ensuring,
where possible, the existence of a primary case worker with whom a
trusting relationship could be developed:

"It just kind of streamlines what was already in place and means
that the most appropriate person is doing all the work with that
young person." (Social Worker)

Champions are as important on the ground as they are as
figureheads. Firstly, they sustain the ethos of
WSA amidst less
enthused partners or those with different remits or working
practices. For example, as one
WSA practitioner
noted, this can counteract potential tensions with more generic
social work teams:

"We were working with young people who would [also] be working
with Children and Families and the minute they were 16 it was
'that's it finished, goodbye', but we would keep those young
people, and they knew we would keep those young people because that
was our ethos: we wanted to work with them".

Secondly, champions engage more effectively with the young
people in question, encouraging their 'buy in' to the approach. As
a social worker comments:

"You need some degree of credibility with the person that comes
in… I know young people assess very quickly visually. So
somebody comes in the door, makes something up, it might be right
or wrong, but within seconds their ability to then talk to that
person is affected. So you want people who they can engage with
quite quickly".

Authority A's mentoring service is an example of vocational
engagement, where social work attaches a mentor from the community
to a young person whenever they feel it would benefit the young
person:

"Previously the mentors would be working with maybe younger
clients, a little bit of extra support: evenings, weekends, doing
activities. Now we're working with older clients; they're maybe
coming through Diversion, or Court Support, and then I would put in
a mentor. These young people would previously not have been able to
access any extra support." (Social Worker)

This service works to assist young people to transition into
independence, incorporating the
WSA ethos that
young people require extended support, particularly beyond age
16:

"Their mentors are maybe helping them with employment issues,
college applications, any kind of issues that are happening with
housing." (Social Worker)

The service provides the intensive mentoring support that more
complex cases require, in many ways similar to a third sector
service provider:

"They're local people. They get paid, they're not volunteers,
and we would expect them to get paid because they're doing some
pretty challenging things but they stay for the right reasons,
they're with us for a long time and they do it because they love
it." (Social Worker)

One
WSA lead spoke of
the need to disseminate the
WSA ethos amongst
youth justice partners, so as to futureproof against the precarious
reliance upon a single champion:

"We've got a good model, a good way of working, and we've
managed to sustain that in [Authority] because we've had clear
strategies and they've been signed off and agreed. I think that's
been our saving grace. I'm not trying to be immodest, but a lot of
it has also been down to my leadership, but the service we have
shouldn't be dependent on one strong person, one strong voice."

Practitioners in one authority unanimously praised their
WSA lead; but were
also confident in the robust processes established which alllowed
the
WSA to function
effectively in their absence.

In Authority C, a practitioner who had experienced the shift
from working in a dedicated
WSA team to being
part of a generic local area team described how the
WSA ethos was
diluted as a result:

"Now it's diluted a bit, because you've got some intensive
family support cases, some
EEI
work, some
RaMPS
[Reparation and Mediation/Parent Support] some diversion. But
you've got all these other bits you're doing now and it's a bit
more diluted from what it used to be. Whole Systems is very much
more to do with offending and youth justice, whereas those other
jobs are not so much."

The long term sustainability of
WSA in any given
authority is predicated upon staff expertise and their dedication
to the
WSA ethos, as well
as diversifying its sources of influence. Continuity of personnel
was perceived as beneficial to working relationships, and enabling
knowledge to accumulate over time. A social worker in one authority
provides one such instance:

"I think sometimes having the same face around helps. For the
first two and a half years that we ran the
TAC we had a
police officer, a designated sergeant, who came every month and
that enabled us to get off the ground and actually become very,
very successful in managing the young people locally. Then he moved
to another part of the neighbourhood, or division, so he couldn't
come to our meetings anymore and then we had somebody who came for
a year and then we had somebody else came for about 18 months. They
just seemed to be moving around quite a lot and over the last ten
months anyway, we really haven't had a consistent figure and it's
been whoever's been available that's come along."

This may be easier said than done and demonstrates the
importance of establishing processes so as not to rely upon any one
person to lead. In one authority, the
JLO decribed
the fluid nature of the
WSA arrangements,
partly a result of precarious funding streams.

"We'll continue what we do right now, but it's always that
revolving thing, of have we got the right folk around the table,
and always reassessing that. And when we find an issue that
children have, do we have a resource there that can tackle that?
And that will just be the ongoing evolution of it".

5.5 Collaboration through Co-location

The successful implementation of the
WSA in Authority A
is partly premised upon historically healthy partnership working
that is characteristic of the comparatively small scale, rural
nature of the local authority. In addition to the greater
familiarity and, for the most part, continuity of partners which
characterises this local authority, the cultural embedding of
WSA is furthered
through the co-location of partners in one building. The office
serves as a hub where seconded police, education, mental health and
third sector representatives interact and are able to respond to
case needs swiftly and with a more developed understanding of other
partners' capabilities and resources.

Scotland has already recognised the benefits of co-location of
multiple agencies. For example, West Lothian Civic Centre is a case
in point, co-locating Police Scotland,
COPFS,
SCRA
and Community Health and Care offices. Other exemplars include the
Gartcosh Crime Campus, Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre and
Renfrew Health and Social Work Centre. Research into co-location of
statutory agencies in Scotland found that "fewer than half of those
responsible for commissioning and procurement in local authorities
ensured that they always or often liaised with other providers to
assure continuity of quality and value for money" (Reeder and
Aylott, 2012: 12). These concerns are exacerbated in a criminal
justice context, where the system possesses "an urgent need for the
different parts of the criminal justice system to work closer
together. At its simplest, each part of the system has little
regard for the consequences of its actions on the other parts"
(Reeder and Aylott, 2012: 12).

The amenable conditions of Authority A may not be present in
most authorities, but the mechanism of co-location shows a way to
better sustain and perpetuate the ethos of
WSA, which should
not be taken for granted. A Social Work Manager in one authority
describes the 'scattergun' approach to referring cases that
sometimes occurs; potentially co-location can assist in reducing
this as well as promoting the
WSA ethos through
practice:

"Sometimes social workers are just as guilty of referring in a
scattergun approach to anybody and everybody because they've
committed an offence or they've maybe got a mental health issue, so
it needs to go to
CAMHS.
Sometimes there's a lot more than just the mental health issue of
the offence, there's other stuff there."

Not all agencies are convinced of the benefits of co-location,
as this Community Safety practitioner remarked:

"But, I mean, there's strong communication between the teams so
it doesn't really matter…if you're all sitting in the one
building or you're dispersed, ideologically you're all together
anyway, so the guys know that if they're dealing with a particular
kid they know exactly who they need to speak to and don't hesitate
in doing that, so there is that kind of joined up thinking."

Co-location can facilitate the 'championing' of
WSA values and
methods within and between partner agencies through close
proximity, the development of trusting interpersonal relationships,
timeous communications, and the incorporation of multi-agency
working into everyday practice. In addition, co-location improves
the prospects of sustaining the
WSA ethos amongst
partners whose wider institutional responsibilities and cultures
may be somewhat reticent to the approach, most apparent in
interviews from non
WSA oriented
police officers and social workers.

5.6 Expanding the
WSA?

Whilst many interviewees spoke of the desirability of expanding
the
WSA to include
older young people, that is, up to the age of 21 years, in reality
this seems far from achievable. Expansion of the
WSA approach to
incorporate an older age group necessarily requires the continued
presence of dedicated and trained
WSA staff, as well
as political will and resource commitment. Police from one
authority warned that they were operating at full capacity, that
any form of expansion would require extra resourcing to continue
the successes they have made.

Echoing social worker comments on their crisis-led work
patterns, a
JLO made a
similar comment regarding resourcing:

"The police being the police will always find resources to deal
with something that needs dealt with there and then. That might be
to the cost of more low end stuff, not that there's no urgency, so
as long as it's dealt with there's no real issue."

Despite police in one authority describing the absence of adult
social care from
WSA as a "massive
gap" in practice, expansion to include those aged up to 21 year is
considered unachievable at present, such that efforts may be best
focused upon maintaining the high quality of service for dealing
with those up to the age of 17 until changes in resource or
restructuring allow for it. As a
JLO said:

"We've got a significant volume of referrals every month, it
could be anything from 70 to 90 referrals for offending behaviour
in that age group every month. Now the disposals are different, and
they can fluctuate from month to month obviously, but the work in
terms of assessing the referral, quality assuring it, making sure
you have the right information to make the decision, make the
decision, inform the right that you've made the decision,
administrate them into the meeting, into the reports, into whatever
disposal you've decided, getting the returns for that, and doing
the statistics around that, and ensure that all the relevant
databases are updated, already you're thinking that's a lot of
work. Double the numbers that you've come in with 18-21 year olds,
to what we already do with our young people from 8 - 17. I don't
think that's achievable at the moment."

With specific reference to Police Scotland's restructuring, it
is important to remember the wider structural and resourcing
context influencing decisions taken. Much of this is outwith the
WSA's sphere of
influence, but inevitably has ramifications for the continuation of
present levels of success. One
JLO
commented:

"It's about maintaining where we've got to now and hopefully
continuing that, rather than focusing depleted resources on trying
to establish further goals. Because you just can't do more for less
sometimes. I think it's about recognition of what is the practical
impact of the changes that Police Scotland, of the re-division that
locally [Authority] is going to have, that needs to be teased out
at a regional level".

5.7 Summary

Overall this section offers some insights into the ways in which
practitioners have grasped the opportunities presented by the
WSA way of
working, and tried to overcome some of the challenges it faces. Key
amongst the opportunities are the ways in which the
WSA has galvanised
closer partnership working and information-sharing, as well as
promoting shared learning; although there is a strong recognition
by practitioners that maintaining the
WSA ethos and
practice arrangements require continuous work. The
WSA is resource
heavy, specifically in terms of sustaining ongoing communication
between a wide range of partners, the need for ongoing training,
and the management of large amounts of information. It is therefore
important that its visibility is maintained and that partners
continue to 'buy-in' to the ethos and working practices. Some
authorities have effectively promoted the
WSA ethos through
the work of 'champions' who have acted as
WSA advocates;
others used co-location as a way of cementing partnerships and
creating economies of scale. The variations in both size of area
and scale of offending in each local authority demands flexibility
in approach and a shared sense of ideology in this regard.